While an interesting history, the actual truth is that the haggis is a small mammal which lives in the highlands. While they can be hunted (from St Andrews Day to Burns night), most commercially available haggis is farmed.
There is no truth to the rumour that they have 2 legs longer on the left side to easily run around the steep hills. Or that the males and females have different long legs so that they run around the hills in different directions and therefore meet.
People do tend to forget about the homing sea haggis subspecies - with each group returning to the area of the same whisky distillery where they were born.
There lads and lasses in pearlings
Will feast in the heart of the ha',
On sybows, and rifarts, and carlings,
That are baith sodden and raw.
And there will be fadges and brochan,
With fouth of good gabbocks of skate,
Powsowdy, and drammock, and crowdy,
And caller nowt-feet in a plate.
And there will be partans and buckies,
And whitens and speldings enew,
With singed sheep heads, and a haggies,
And scadlips to sup till ye spew.
And there will be lapper'd milk kebbocks,
And sowens, and farls, and baps,
With swats, and well scraped paunches,
And brandy in stoups and in caps:
And there will be meal-kail and castocks,
With skink to sup till ye rive,
And roasts to roast on a brander,
Of flukes that were taken alive.
Scrapt haddocks, wilks, dulse and tangle,
And a mill of good snishing to prie;
When weary with eating and drinking,
We'll rise up and dance till we die.
Then fy let us a' to the bridal,
For there will be lilting there;
For Jock's to be married to Maggie,
The lass wi' the gowden hair.
I've had haggis in the UK and it's absolutely delicious. interesting thing is if you go to an Arab butcher shop in Brussels they have essentially the same thing. they don't call it haggis but it's the same ingredients so the plot thickens as to the history, I think it's a universal treat
> Once again, it was the English who provided the spur.
I'm continuing with this initiative by proposing a new variant on Haggis: "Shepheard's Haggis". It's basically a Shepheard's pie - which is essentially lamb mince+stuff topped with mashed potato - made using haggis instead of mince. If I have any leftover gravy in the freezer that gets mixed into the haggis to moisten it a bit. I've making this for years.
For added heresy I replace the neeps with baked beans, themselves livened up with some sumac or similar.
Call me a birkie, but I do skip the stomach stuffed with pluck (aka liver, heart and lights (aka lungs)) in favor of a simple loose saute of a nice lamb and/or beef and/or venison mince with oats, onions and proper spice; plus carrot and parsnip puree instead of neeps; plus a nice chianti.
Im Scottish and stopped eating haggis for a while due to the "it contains ..." - but then started liking and appreciating it again. Its a great food for mixing meat, oats and herbs, and the veggie versions are really good too
Most people who complain have no objection to the floor sweepings of fast food they are eating
I always joke with my American friends (where one can't serve proper haggis or Pölsa due to regulations about selling lungs) that it tastes like freedom.
One of the worst things about Brexit for me in mainland Europe is that it became very difficult to obtain real, proper Haggis and Stornoway Black Pudding.
While an interesting history, the actual truth is that the haggis is a small mammal which lives in the highlands. While they can be hunted (from St Andrews Day to Burns night), most commercially available haggis is farmed.
There is no truth to the rumour that they have 2 legs longer on the left side to easily run around the steep hills. Or that the males and females have different long legs so that they run around the hills in different directions and therefore meet.
People do tend to forget about the homing sea haggis subspecies - with each group returning to the area of the same whisky distillery where they were born.
Thanks for reminding me, I last saw some of those when visiting Harris in the Outer Hebrides. “The Hearach” malt is pretty good.
Ewan MacColl - The Blythesome Bridal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLCCYAPNuKU
There lads and lasses in pearlings Will feast in the heart of the ha', On sybows, and rifarts, and carlings, That are baith sodden and raw.
And there will be fadges and brochan, With fouth of good gabbocks of skate, Powsowdy, and drammock, and crowdy, And caller nowt-feet in a plate. And there will be partans and buckies, And whitens and speldings enew, With singed sheep heads, and a haggies, And scadlips to sup till ye spew.
And there will be lapper'd milk kebbocks, And sowens, and farls, and baps, With swats, and well scraped paunches, And brandy in stoups and in caps: And there will be meal-kail and castocks, With skink to sup till ye rive, And roasts to roast on a brander, Of flukes that were taken alive.
Scrapt haddocks, wilks, dulse and tangle, And a mill of good snishing to prie; When weary with eating and drinking, We'll rise up and dance till we die. Then fy let us a' to the bridal, For there will be lilting there; For Jock's to be married to Maggie, The lass wi' the gowden hair.
I've had haggis in the UK and it's absolutely delicious. interesting thing is if you go to an Arab butcher shop in Brussels they have essentially the same thing. they don't call it haggis but it's the same ingredients so the plot thickens as to the history, I think it's a universal treat
> Once again, it was the English who provided the spur.
I'm continuing with this initiative by proposing a new variant on Haggis: "Shepheard's Haggis". It's basically a Shepheard's pie - which is essentially lamb mince+stuff topped with mashed potato - made using haggis instead of mince. If I have any leftover gravy in the freezer that gets mixed into the haggis to moisten it a bit. I've making this for years.
For added heresy I replace the neeps with baked beans, themselves livened up with some sumac or similar.
Call me a birkie, but I do skip the stomach stuffed with pluck (aka liver, heart and lights (aka lungs)) in favor of a simple loose saute of a nice lamb and/or beef and/or venison mince with oats, onions and proper spice; plus carrot and parsnip puree instead of neeps; plus a nice chianti.
The type of content I come to HackerNews for
Im Scottish and stopped eating haggis for a while due to the "it contains ..." - but then started liking and appreciating it again. Its a great food for mixing meat, oats and herbs, and the veggie versions are really good too
Most people who complain have no objection to the floor sweepings of fast food they are eating
(2019) Probably better Jan 25th for Robbie Burns? (25 points, 2022, 6 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30080881
Actually so delicious, with peeves
I always joke with my American friends (where one can't serve proper haggis or Pölsa due to regulations about selling lungs) that it tastes like freedom.
Freedom Bowels.
> Freedom Bowels
No. That's sausage skin.
Propper Haggis casing is made using the sheep's stomach.
One of the worst things about Brexit for me in mainland Europe is that it became very difficult to obtain real, proper Haggis and Stornoway Black Pudding.